Lawyer mispelled defendants name, judgement issued against person who does not exit!

[camosilver]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? florida

When I moved out of the duplex I was renting 2 years ago, my landlord never gave me back my security deposit. The property was in better shape when I left it than it was when I moved in (painted the inside, cleaned, fixed holes in the wall, etc). But that's besides the point, because she never inspected the property after I moved out (I asked her) and after 30 days she had not mailed or even verbally said that she intended to make a claim on my security deposit, waiving her right to it in any way. She gave me the runaround for a few months before I hired an attorney to go after it in small claims court.

My attorney was extremely slow about everything he did, but finally we won in court because she never showed up for the hearing and a default judgment was issued in my favor(took my attorney almost a year to do this). This was over a year ago, and the lawyer has not done anything since. He stopped taking my calls and responded to my emails(sent one every week or two) every 4 months or so, saying that in order to collect we need to do this and that, and I said ok, let's do that... only to never hear anything back!

Finally, I got tired of being ignored and I decided to start trying to collect myself. I searched the court's records and found that my lawyer misspelled the defendant's last name, so basically I have a judgment against someone who does not exist! I put in several motions to the judge to change the spelling of the defendant's name, but the judge keeps denying the motions and refuses to give me a reason.

So, now I am left with a few questions:

-Is it possible to collect on this judgment with the misspelled name?

-Why would the judge deny my motions?

-If I cannot collect on this judgment, can I sue the attorney for his error? After all, I hired a "professional" to handle the case, and not only did he make a mistake that it seems will prevent me from collecting on the judgment, but he refuses to fix it and ignores me.

[Dandy Don]

Start a new suit with the correctly spelled name so you can then get a judgment to collect on. And file a complaint against this attorney with the state bar association.

[camosilver]

Originally Posted by Dandy Don

Start a new suit with the correctly spelled name so you can then get a judgment to collect on. And file a complaint against this attorney with the state bar association.

i really don't want to have to shell out more money at this point if it can be avoided. i have already paid the attorney for his services, so how can i recoup the money i paid him for a job he failed to do correctly? and why can't i just put in a motion to change the spelling of the name?

[camosilver]

Originally Posted by Ronin

You had a responsibility to review all the legal documents which you signed and agreed to, including reviewing the final judgment for errors.
.

i never had a chance to review the "final judgement"... never! the only legal document i signed with my attorney i believe was a retainer.

[justalayman]

then go to the court and get a copy and read it.



Do you know if the defendant was even served? Did they ever respond to the summons?

[camosilver]

Originally Posted by justalayman

then go to the court and get a copy and read it.



Do you know if the defendant was even served? Did they ever respond to the summons?

i can view the default judgment online through the clerk of court records. that's how i found out the defendant's name was misspelled. it's spelled correctly at the bottom of the judgment where it shows the defendant and plaintiff, but in other spots it's misspelled, and it's in the clerk of court's records under the misspelled name. i have already read it, and know that it is filed in the courts records under the misspelled name, so what exactly should i be reading it and looking for?

and i have no idea if she was served, i will try to find out if she was by asking the court. and she never responded to the summons or any thing from my attorney or the court, not once.

[camosilver]

i went to the courthouse and i asked them if she was "served" and they said that they don't do that after a judgment is issued, what they do is mail a copy of the judgment to the defendant, plaintiff, and they attorneys involved. they mailed her a copy of the judgment 7/2008.

[justalayman]

I was speaking about being served the original complaint and summons.

but anyway, why did you state you never had a chance to read the final judgment? You just said that is how you found out the name was spelled wrong.


Depending on the entire situation and especially since the name is spelled right in the judgment, this may be a valid judgment as it stands. The reason I asked if the defendant was properly served an responded was simply to try to discover it they would have a reasonable action to set aside the judgment due to invalid service.